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SCUTTLEBUTT 2000 - January 3, 2006Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.Y2K If you have received the newsletter today, then Scuttlebutt has successfully entered the Y2K era with Issue 2000. It is hard to think back to when Scuttlebutt started in 1997, where it was just an occasional e-mail that was sent to a few dozen Southern California sailing friends. Thanks to the ease of the Internet, the reach of Scuttlebutt quickly snowballed, and now stretches across North America, and to most other continents as well. Scuttlebutt has obviously outgrown the hobby stage, and it has been our pleasure to watch the growth of the Scuttlebutt community. The emergence of the Scuttlebutt website has allowed us to surround the sport with additional features of interest, including the recent release of the Forums section and the forthcoming Scuttleblog. However, the daily newsletter is the core of the operation, which for many has become as integral to their lives as the morning coffee. We look forward to being your source for daily sailing news in 2006, and for many years to come. Please stay in touch, and continue to submit your Letters to the Editor, or your comments to the Forum. Happy New Year! Editor: mailto:editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com Forum: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=5 THEY'RE OFF Cape Town, South Africa -- The second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race got under way in very light and shifty conditions off Table Bay. The fleet now have 6,100 nautical miles to go to Melbourne through some of the most dangerous and treacherous waters of the world. There was little wind at the start, but place changes, protests and frayed tempers made for plenty of drama at the start. It was at the first mark, situated in the lee of a massive container ship, that skippers and navigators, whose patience had been sorely tested by the light and erratic south easterly breezes in the shadow of Table Mountain, finally blew their tops. Progress had been slow and the frustration over their lack of steerage way, and the fashion in which the whole fleet came back together in the lee of the container ship, boiled over. First it was Paul Cayard who threw up his hands in disgust when Pirates of the Caribbean, who looked set to round the mark in second place after languishing helplessly for half an hour on the approach, appeared to brush the Volvo buoy as they passed. The mark became hooked onto their keel and as they struggled to free themselves, the congestion among the other boats waiting in their wake to pass the mark to starboard began to get nasty. ABN Amro One, Ericsson, together with Brasil 1, which had been first to the mark after an impressive start, but took three goes to get round. Mike Sanderson's ABN Amro One made contact with the side of Ericsson, leaving a stanchion bent double and the guard rails in disarray. Protest flags were raised on both boats though Sanderson later dropped his and completed a penalty turn when he was advised the error had been ABN Amro One's. Then it was Ericsson and Brasil 1 that stepped into the ring for a skirmish, the crews being forced to fend off as the boats locked horns. This time it was Torben Grael who snatched off his cap in a fit of pique and threw it onto the deck, knowing that despite all their efforts, Brasil 1 would be last to join the track into the Southern Ocean. According to a statement issued by Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Glenn Bourke, the three offending boats made their penalty turns, 720 degree turns for collisions for ABN Amro One and Brasil 1, and a 360 degree turn for hitting the mark for Pirates. "As far as we can tell, all of the boats that had an incident at the first mark exonerated themselves with the correct action." The seven boat fleet is having a relatively easy first night ride. In breeze of between 9 - 12 knots, the crews are beating south, averaging around 10 knots in an effort to clear the Cape Agulhas at the southernmost tip of Africa, approximately 45 nautical miles upwind. -- http://www.volvooceanrace.org/ Photo link for VOR Leg 2 start: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/vorl2st Positions at 2200 GMT Tuesday 1. Brasil 1, Torben Grael, 5999 miles to finish 1. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking, 0 miles to leader 3. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald, 1 mile to leader 4. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard, 2 miles to leader 4. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson, 2 miles to leader 6. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse, 3 miles to leader 7. ING Real Estate Brunel, Grant Wharington, 5 miles to leader Current Leaderboard (before the start of leg Two) 1. Team ABN Amro One, Mike Sanderson (NZL) 15 pts 2. Brasil 1, Torben Grael (BRA) 12.5 pts 3. Team ABN Amro Two, Sebastien Josse (FRA) 12 pts 4. Ericsson Racing Team Neal McDonald (GBR) 11.5 pts 5. Movistar, Bouwe Bekking (NED) 6 pts 6. Pirates of the Caribbean, Paul Cayard (USA) 5 pts 6. ING Real Estate Brunel, Grant Wharington (AUS) 5 pts OCKAM REGATTA SUPPORT At Ockam Instruments, we truly enjoy sailboat racing, and can be found at most regattas providing the highest level of service and support available. Acura Key West Race Week is just around the corner and Ockam Instrument technicians will be there to solve your instrument service, support and calibration needs. We also can assist with software and hardware upgrade solutions, system integration as well as give pointers to help fine tune your Ockam system. Look for our contact information on the regatta information board at race headquarters or contact Lat at mailto:lat@ockam.com to make an appointment. THE NAVIGATOR'S ROLE (In part one of a story posted on the Daily Sail subscription website, Ericsson Racing Team navigator Steve Hayles describes his role and what they learned on leg one of the Volvo Ocean Race. Here are a couple of brief excerpts.) Over the years the navigator's role in the fully crewed round the world race has changed immeasurably. Aside from the navigator's duties, on a Volvo Open 70 because of the shortage of crew, the navigator is an integral part of the sailing team and is obliged to spend a lot of time on deck particularly during maneuvers. The biggest change this time for navigators has been over the supply of weather information. In the race four years ago before each leg every team would provide the race organizers with a list of websites they wished to view during the leg. These lists would then be compiled into a master list supplied to all the boats, any website on this list being permissible for any team to access while racing. Researching these sites both before the start and subsequently accessing them from on board during the race wasted a huge amount of time, not to mention costing the earth in satcoms bills. To sidestep this the organizers have wisely employed Chris Bedford, who worked with illbruck Challenge four years ago to supply the same weather package to all the boats once every six hours during racing. "In the last race, I would say about 30% of the time I put in was in simply finding where I was going to get the data from and how we were going to get in effectively from which websites at which times. It took a huge amount of time to get all that sorted and now that has gone. - www.thedailysail.com QUOTE / UNQUOTE (As 2005 ends Vincenzo Onorato, Chairman of the Italian America's Cup syndicate Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team, shares his thoughts on his team, their experiences, and their progress.) 'Our results were a bit inconsistent because we had a good start in June in Valencia, and then from there, things were not as good as expected. It's true the racing conditions didn't help us: we began with medium light winds and then, in Malmo and Trapani, definitely more engaging winds. It was too much for our two old Stars & Stripes boats -especially the gear which suffered from the exertion- by now the boats are at the end of their days, tired and stressed. The breakages played an important role. "I want our new AC boat to be able to inspire the same chemistry that allowed Vasco to win around the world. The grit and determination are there… and this determination to succeed continues to grow. It's tangible. All of the guys feel it. My dream and motivation is to bring the Cup to Naples. I know that they say I say this all the time, but it's really how I feel. It's enough to see how Valencia is changing month by month under the economic propulsion of this event to understand how it could be beneficial to Naples." - Compete story: http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=ju/Fh/BCl RECORD YEAR The International Optimist Dinghy Association has published its annual review for 2005. It reports: - record sales of over 4,200 boats - record membership of 105 paid-up members countries - record turnouts at the Worlds and almost all its continental championships - expenditure of over US$17,000 on development and training projects Read the full report: www.optiworld.org/2005review.html HEADING FOR KEY WEST? When packing your gear for a regatta, the first thing on your mind will be your Camet Padded sailing shorts. You may already own some, but now is the time to get on the Camet website and look at the different models and colors available. The Bermuda, Aruba, 3000, Cargo, and the new Women's Antigua shorts are all made out of the fast-drying, breathable Supplex (UV 40+) and with the Cordura seat patch to hold the foam pad, for help on those long hours on the rail. Rash guards, Coolmax shirts, Code Zero shirts, Porto Cervo shorts, etc. http://www.camet.com THE SIESTA ENDS IN SPAIN When Spain's government employees report to work Monday, they will be forced to abandon a tradition that has typified Spanish life for decades. Instead of taking the customary two or three hours for lunch, they will be allowed only one. Under new rules that took effect on Sunday, employees of the central government will adopt the new schedule, eliminating the long break at midday that pushes the close of the typical Spanish workday as far back as 8 p.m., sometimes later. The change, announced by the government in early December, is intended to align the Spanish work schedule with the rest of Europe's, and to reduce the time that employees, particularly working parents, spend away from home. Before the days of long commutes and heavy traffic, most Spaniards returned home for lunch and a siesta at midday. Now a trip home is often impractical, particularly in the large cities, but the traditional work schedule with the long afternoon break has largely remained. Spaniards working on New Year's Day were driven onto the chilly streets to smoke as a new ban on smoking in public places came into effect on Sunday, but in Madrid's typical smoky bars the law was widely ignored. Spain is Europe's second biggest per capita consumer of tobacco after Greece, according to market researchers Euromonitor, and until now many Spaniards still smoked at work. From January 1 it is illegal to smoke in offices, hospitals, schools and shopping centers. Bars and restaurants of more than 100 sq.-meters (1,076 sq. feet) must have no-smoking sections. But bars smaller than that can choose whether to ban or allow smoking throughout, making the law much softer than similar legislation in other European countries. -- The AC Challenger Commission website, http://www.challengercommission.com/ NEWS BRIEFS * Victorian yachtsman Bernie Case tomorrow will be honored with a specially struck medallion to mark his 40th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, joining only four others who have achieved this remarkable total since the race began 61 years ago. Case, 65, sailed to Hobart aboard Roger Hickman's Farr 43 Wild Rose, and among the crew was Bernie's eldest son Robert, 37, who also notched up his 21st race. Wild Rose finished 2nd in IRC Division E. "To total 61 races between Dad and me in the 61st Rolex Sydney Hobart is quite something," Rob Case said in Hobart. * Thanks to photographer Andrea Francolini, who provided us with the breathtaking images of fireworks from Sydney, Australia. In the foreground of the images is the superyacht Georgia, which was parked in the best spot to see the fireworks (as you do when you have such a boat which can not fit under the bridge). Georgia is a 156ft alloy yacht, made in NZL. - http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/photos/06/newyears CHARLESTON RACE WEEK - PRESENTED BY SEABROOK ISLAND Scheduled for April 6-9, 2006, Charleston Race Week is perfectly placed if you're traveling north after Miami, or if you decide to make it your first regatta of the spring season. Free storage for trailered boats, free dockage for first 50 entries. Southern hospitality and great racing! 843-722-1030 or http://www.charlestonraceweek.com LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. You only get one letter per subject, so give it your best shot and don't whine if others disagree. And please save your bashing, and personal attacks for elsewhere. For those that prefer a Forum, you can post your thoughts at the Scuttlebutt website: http://sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi) * From Bruno Troublé (Re Tom Ehman's piece about the Challenger of Record): The challenger races were not invented by the NYYC nor by the Brits. Baron Bich , the French Tycoon must be fully credited with the idea. When he applied (1967?) to Challenge the NYYC for the 1970 edition of the America's Cup, the answer was ''No way! We already have a Challenge from Australia! You will have to wait for a few more years'' The Baron was not (at all!) the kind of man to take "no" as an answer. He insisted, came back several times and finally suggested the NYYC to accept a series of races among several Challengers - in 1970, two challengers: One from Australia and one from France. The Baron lost badly but the Pandora box was open! By accepting multiple challengers in 1970 , the NYYC signed its ''death sentence'' and finally lost the Cup to Australia 13 years later. After, 1970, the competition among the Challengers slowly became tougher than the one held to select the Defender. The America's Cup is now, ''a Defender against the rest of the World.'' * From Eric Sorensen (edited to our 250-word limit): Tim Dicks letter in 'butt 1999 was a kick to read. The lead mine boats of the America's Cup may be 10 times the money and not as challenging to control. The Volvo 70s are in a new race and the crashing, spray, breakdowns, and general survival of these boats is generating interest outside of the sailing world like car crashes at the Indy. As a lifetime sailor, my own pucker string tightens each time I read about these guys. Going off into the roaring 40s on these sleds dodging icebergs at 30 knots is something I hope they survive but is not something I would want to even contemplate -- let alone do. I suspect the canting keel and planing hulls will reach the AC designers and rule makers, given the success of Wild Oats and others. I am one of those who do not support the canting keel for AC on the basis of manpower. If you cannot do it with crew, don't do it. These monsters have to have an engine running to get the keel tacked. To me that is just not sailboat racing as I know it. Yes, I have been on boats running engines to keep up the electric support systems in long races but I didn't like it. Keep the engines off as long as possible and sail. human vs human on Wind and Water. Keeping it basic! * From Ken Guyer: As a former media spokesman for a public agency fighting a politically motivated fight here in San Diego, my disdain for quotes taken out of context is limitless. At least Scuttlebutt provided a link to the entire story.For all of you who have read the infamous quote from Neville Crichton without reading the entire story, you have no right to pass judgment on Mr. Crichton's comment. Read the article. It is not the ramblings of a sore loser. It is a thoughtful reflection on what transpired between two boats in a yacht race by an authority figure, a disappointed one for sure. I will take Peter Harken's assessment of Neville Crichton over the criticism. Those that invest the money and passion in our sport such as Mr. Crichton has will most likely take any loss hard. It is not what they say in the moment that you should judge, it is the entire package. * From Steve Old, Sydney: Bearing in mind this year's Rolex Sydney-Hobart and all the associated hoohah, is anyone able to furnish true and proper definitions of "Supermaxi", "Maxi", and "Pocket Maxi"? Depending on which newspaper, press release, TV station, and reporter(s) one read or watched, the only Maxis in this year's fleet were "Super". Yachts variously described in previous years as "Maxis" and "Pocket Maxis" were all, this year, promoted to "Supermaxis". The fleet this year did not include even a single humble "Maxi"! Of course, for the average punter, "Supermaxi" conjures up far more glamour, $$$, excitement, and sensationalism than plain old "maxi". I, for one would never buy a newspaper that headlined the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race as having humdrum ordinary Maxis in the fleet … too boring! * From Dave Culp (Regarding Philipe's golf rules for sailing): I expect I'll be in a marked minority, but I like this concept! I may not be entirely in favor of limiting sailing innovation, and I am not so confident as Philippe as regards getting human beings to do anything "simply," nevertheless, I am much in favor of making sailing more interesting. I would point out that it isn't actually necessarily to change all of sailing to put this concept into effect: It'd be no big deal to do it at a single regatta or series of regattas, and let doubters "get their feet wet" to the concept. * From David Tommela: I salute Philippe Kahn for his creative ideas to improve sailboat racing. His entire successful business career has been driven by out- of-the-box thinking. Sailboat racing can benefit from his creativity, energy, and love of challenging prevailing opinion. Go Philippe! * From John McBrearty: Philippe Kahn's comparison of golf to sailing could only, remotely, possibly, but not likely have a an effect on one person boats. Now there is a certain group of Naples Sabot sailors that I am aware of who would rather be buried at sea, immediately, rather than be the beneficiaries of a golf handicap system. * From John Burnham: It's already been said by one of your readers but it deserves to be echoed. Assuming that the sun will rise again tomorrow morning, I have no doubt that another issue of Scuttlebutt will arrive sometime after it sets. Congratulations on your persistence in reaching #2000. I hope you have at least as much fun producing the next 2000. *From Jeffrey Littell: The early issues of 'Butt were hilarious. There was coverage of Craig Fletcher's job for that week, Mark Gaudio's race course antics, and so on. While 'Butt has now become more international and sometimes big regatta focused, us weekend warriors continue to have great fun but the stories don't seem to win the coverage in 'Butt they used to. Curmudgeon's Comment: You are spot-on Jeffery - those early, 20th Century 'Southern California editions' were great fun. And although our focus widened as the audience expanded - it is still fun for the curmudgeon. Different, but still fun. However, I suspect we actually did more to help the sport in those early days when both our audience and our focus were considerably smaller. CURMUDGEON'S OBSERVATION There's so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us. Special thanks to Ockam Instruments, Camet Intl., and Charleston Race Week. |
